In 2017, the Ministry of Education led by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, launched a Competence Based Curriculum programme, referred to as CBC. This curriculum that is now a 2-6-6-3 programme comes following the earlier 7-4-2-3 system (from 1963 to 1985) that was replaced by the 8-4-4 system of education (1985 to 2017).
The goal of an educational curriculum is to empower citizens with the necessary knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that enable them to be empowered for personal and national development. Through an educational curriculum, citizens should therefore meet their personal needs and also those of the nation. In the present era, the focus has to be in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
CBC seeks to address the gap/deficiency within the earlier educational systems where rigidity and limitations were noted. Through the systems, alignment of the curriculum to the learners’ career interests, aptitudes, and abilities was absent or even very weak. These systems seemed to serve those who score high grades in the traditional subjects (English, Mathematics, Sciences, and Humanities), at the end of secondary education. These students would then proceed for higher education in a bid to take up white-collar.
The CBC is divided into three main parts namely:
- Early Years Education,
- Middle School Education,
- Senior School.
Years involved:
- Early Childhood Development (ECD)
- Pre-primary 1 & 2 (PP1 & PP2)
Differences in terminology between the old systems and CBC
| Earlier systems | CBC |
| Class | Grade |
| Subjects | Learning areas |
| Topics/sub-topics | Strands/Sub-strands |
| Lesson objectives | Learning outcomes |
| Teaching aids | Learning resources |
In its address of societal wellness, CBC has set aside seven core life values. These are: Love, Responsibility, Respect, Unity, Peace, Patriotism, and Integrity
Productivity in life, in either employment or business calls upon competencies. Clients seek for specific competencies in order to satisfy their needs. The competencies allow the giver to receive a pay, thus get some income. Pegged on this, the CBC seeks to nurture the following competencies among learners:
(i) Communication and collaboration;
(ii) Critical thinking and problem solving;
(iii) Imagination and creativity;
(iv) Citizenship;
(v) Learning to learn;
(vi) Self-efficacy;
(vii) Digital literacy.
These form a foundation upon which other skill based competencies can be built.
Additional reading: United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Author: Dr. JohnBosco Kiingati
